Morning journal and courier., 1887-01-26
AT HARTFORD YESTERDAY.

"cUHcsuAys 0AHuhFy SVs 1857
AT HARTFORD YESTERDAY.
What was Done in the states Halls of
LegislatiOn-ImPOrt Bills Intro
ducsd-A State Printing Omce-The
Cost OF ABolishing Grade Crossings
Prosecuting Agents Ask For Moro
Pay-A Petition Signed BY Three
Thousand Persons TO Prohibit sun
day Trains.
HARTFORD, Jan. 25.
Especial to the JOURNAL AND CoURIER.l
The States lawmakers commenced their
weeks work very auspiciously to day and
business was pushed rapidly. Neither house
was in session much over thirty minutes,
but in the interim many bills, petitions and
acts were introduced and referred. In the
House to-day the petition signed by three
thousand persons asking for law to prevent
the running of Sunday trains was introduced.
| This petition has caused much comment
| throughout the State among ministers and
| laymen. Many towns throughout the State
| were represented in the petition and 1t bears
the signatures of many prominent men. The
requests named in the petition have already
been published in the COURIER.
| hCPACSS4GabANO iAAhS AASAO~NA - $3.50 -
the House to day which caused much com
ment among the members. 1t provides fol
the establishment of public printing office.
| The bill is a copy of similar one intro
| duced in New York, and asks that the office
| be located in Hartford before January 1.
| 1885, at an expense not to exceed
| $780, 900 and to be of suit
Gent capacity to do all the print
| ing, lithographing, stereotyping and
engraving and binding for the State depart
| ment, to be under the charge of practical
printer, who shall be appointed biennially
by the Governor At yearly salary of 81, 900
and be under S., 900 bonds, and who may be
removed at any time by a two-thirds vote of
the legislature and with the approval of the
Governor. The bill also requires that the
State printers foremen shall also be practical
men, and neither shall the printer or any of
the officers or foremen be connected with the
publication of any newspaper or periodical or
with any printing, stereotyping, binding, en-
craving or lithographing establishment or be
interested in furnishing material for the
same. Representative King has great hopes
of getting his bill through. A prominent
member of the House says it is doubtful if
the bill becomes law.
A bill materially changing the law relative
to the fees of prosecuting agents, some of
whom are dissatisfied with the remuneration
they have been receiving for "spotting" the
LIQUOR dealers, it was introduced by Repre-
sentative Chaffee, of Derby. The bill is as
follows
s'There shall be allowed to a prosecuting
agent in each case of prosecution or search
commenced or conducted by him before any
justice of the peace or court of this State,
and in each case for the revocation of . Ii
cense brought before the county commission
ers, the sum of ten dollars, and the further
sum of tea dollara for each day after the
first that he is actually engaged in the trial
thereof, provided that the court the coun-
ty commissioners taxing the costs in any
such case shall be of the opinion that the
same was entered into by such agent in good
faith and upon probable cause, and that the
same was pursued as speedily and as far as
the ends of Justice required"
The bill introduced in the legislature at the
instance of the railroad commissioners in the
way of reducing grade crossings has been dis
cussed about the State ever since its introduce
ton and people have been figuring how much
it will cost their town, city or borough under
IL dts well DIS Iu0 ca pcu6C " Oo DOEno ny GuC
railroads. The terms of the bill are these:
Roads that have paid no dividend the year
preceding the order to abolish the crossing
shall bear the expense equally with the town.
city or borough in which such crossing is
situated. Roads that have paid five per cent.
dividedd shall pay three ffths of the ex-
pense. Companies that have paid five per
cent. but not more than eight shall bear
seven -tenths of the expense, and companies
that paid more than ight per cent. shall pay
four ffths of the expense Last year q similar
bill was introduced with few exceptions. 1t
contained no graduation of expenses based
on dividends. It managed to pass the House
but failed in the Senate. There said to
be ,521 crossings in the State. Allowing the
average cost of discriminating these crossings
to be SIC, 000, the grand total would be S15
210, 900. If this amount could be spread
over the State at large and equally divided
in all eases between towns and railroads, the
cost for 2 per cent. reduction per year to
each of the 166 towns in the State would be
So, 173; for five per cent. $13, 1O4. On an
average there are three grade crossings to a
town-one to about every three-quarters of a
mile territory in the entire State. One hun
dred and ninety-one of the crossings are on
the lines of the roads that pay no dividends
aud they run through towns that are already
pretty we'll burdened with debt. The bill
seems fair enough, although the poor road
and towns will suffer by the bill if it passes as
they will by any bill. The grading of
penses is a provision which these roads and
towns it is thought will not object to, as they
will undoubtedly recognize the great necessi-
ty of abolishing the death traps.
The Hon. Henry G. Robinson was before
the committee on banks, which met this af-
ternoon. He appeared in favor of the bill
authorizing the Phoenix National bank to ac-
cept its State charter. The committee after
a rather F'windy" session voted to recomm end
that the bank be allowed to resume its State
charter.
Many of the seventy old soldiers in the
legislature met this afternoon. Senator Lucas
presided. A committee on permanent or
ganization, to report hereafter, was appoint
ed as follows: Messrs. Steele of Torrington,
Breach of Middletown, Bates of Thompson,
Griswold of Guilford and Norton of Bristol.
This committee will also report names for a
Judicial committee" to which shall be re-
ferred all proposed legislative measures af-
fecting the interests Of the veterans of the
State.
A bill has been introduced in the legisla-
ture prohibiting the killing of quail and par
fridge for three years from October l, 1887.
A penalty of $40 fine or thirty days in jail is
attached This is the first step to save from
determination by amateur hunters the game
birds of the State which may survive the Sc
we're winter. The bill has many friends and
will undoubtedly become law, but perhaps
for shorter period of time than mentioned
in the bill. AS is we'll known by persons in
terested in game, the quail and partridge
are fast being exterminated by crack-braine6
hunters who overrun the State in season anG
out of season. The severe winters of late
years have also aided in helping to extermin
ate these birds.
The committee on temperance met this af
ternoon to act on two important temperance
questions, druggists prescriptions and early
closing There were but few persons to b.
| heard on the matter. Captain j. K. Will
liams opposed the bill that only sale of liquol
be made on physicians prescriptions. Bott
bills went over.
LEGISLATIVE NOTES.
New business will be cut off by Thursday
| of next week.
The hearing of the Woodbury. contested
election case will be concluded this morning
To morrow the Barkhamstead contest will b.
| taken up.
The judiciary COMMITTEES met this after
noon and considered the bill concerning thu
| residence and consequent privilege O.
| voting of inmates of hospitals and soldiers
homes.
The farmers of the House met this after
En ri